Your Average Woman
by Tardling
Summary: A late night conversation between the Faye and Spike leads leads him to a new realization, and the discovery of where the dream ends and reality begins. [[ SpikexFaye ]]


"Lead me to the one who loves me."  
  
That noise, that subtle, terrible, beautiful noise. It rang threw the ship like a broken echo. Every night that same verses, the same lyrics, the same childish tune, but tonight it woke him up more then once. Faye's insomnia was starting to get to him.  
  
Spike stood up in sheer annoyance; the tune that drifted through the ship was drowned out by his fuming state. Shirtless and slipper-less, her trudged down the hall.  
  
"The second star to the right,  
  
Shines in the night for you,  
  
To tell you that the dreams you plan  
  
Really can come true."  
  
He passed from corridor to corridor, hearing the lyrics pour. He couldn't say she had a bad voice, on the contrary. It was deep, rich, genuine..but, he needed his goddamn sleep. And he'd never really tell her what he thought.  
  
"The second star to the right,  
  
Shines with a light that's rare.  
  
And if it's Never Land you need,  
  
It's light will lead you there."  
  
Finally, he reached the rec. room. And he watched her, as she sat in the sheer darkness, her face lightly placed against the dark of the windowpanes, silhouetted by the stars of deep space. He counted all the times her breath filmed over the icy panel of clear glass.  
  
"Twinkle, twinkle little star,  
  
So I'll know where you are.  
  
Gleaming in the skies above,  
  
lead me to the one who loves me.  
  
And when you bring him my way,  
  
Each time we say "Goodnight",  
  
We'll thank the little star that shines  
  
the second from the right."  
  
He always loved the last verse the most, though, if Faye asked, he'd scoff at her, and once she finished, taking a few deep breaths, she readied herself to sing the tune again, but Spike cut her off.  
  
"Shut up." He said simply.  
  
Faye shot her head to the door, and as he had seen her, she saw him in the same-silhouetted form. She whispered something of a sorry, and turned her face away.  
  
Spike really didn't know how to respond to her now. This Faye, the one he had come back to a few weeks prior to this early morn, was so different from the one he left in livid tears those months or so back. He flipped the switch to the room, and watched as her eyes winced at the new light.  
  
"Go back to bed, Spike." She said with a wistful lilt to her voice.  
  
"I can't. You're obnoxious voice is keeping me up."  
  
She didn't respond to him. Rather she simply kept her face to the reflection in the crystal plate of the window. Spike watched her intently. She had certainly changed. She replaced yellow vinyl with flare jeans and a black T-shirt, her snotty red jacket for a thin, girlish hoodie, and her white boots of doom for simple, black canvas shoes, not unlike 'chuck's'. Her face was never painted, save sometimes a gentle film of chapstick on her rich pink lips, and her hair never spent the days down. No, rather it was messily tied up in a bun-ponytail thing of sorts. He watched her scratch her nose. He moved towards her.  
  
"So, how many nights is this?" He asked, as he sat on the bench below the window, adjacent from her spot.  
  
"Three. I should start hallucinating soon. Before long I'll be saying things like, 'That man talks like a lady, we're ALL gonna' die!'" She made a dramatic gesture and slapped her hands against her cheeks, before returning to her docile state.  
  
Spike smiled slightly, and then shrugged his shoulders. He was hoping maybe he could talk her into sleep, but now that he was awake, why should she get to sleep? He gave a look to her face, and saw her scratch her nose for a second time, and now, he paid attention.  
  
"When did you get that done?" referring to the small, metallic stud now lodged in the side of Faye's nose.  
  
"When we were on Mars last." She replied simply.  
  
"That was more than a week ago." He said, before realizing his own ineptitude. How could he have missed a hole in her face? He thought it over, then came to the conclusion that it didn't really matter.  
  
"It looks nice." He said with slight sincerity. Faye finally brought her eyes to his.  
  
"Thanks." She smiled, and as silence pursued, she began to hum. Spike sighed.  
  
For moments he sat, listening to her before finally he couldn't take it anymore. "Things shouldn't be like this."  
  
Faye stopped her little noises and blinked once or twice.  
  
"Like what?" she asked, completely innocent.  
  
"Like this, between you and me. We should be tearing each other apart. Paying attention to detail so that later we can use it against one another to an excruciating extent. What happened?"  
  
Faye just looked at him.  
  
"Are you saying, you liked it when we used to fight?"  
  
"No..I mean, well.." Spike just stopped his thought and began another. "What changed between us?"  
  
"Nothing." Faye replied. "Nothing between us changed. I changed. That's where the difference is."  
  
Spike nodded at her, before computing the thoughts in his head. Yes, she had changed. That was for certain. But, he wondered, what had caused the dramatic flicker from slut to your average woman? Something had to have triggered her change.  
  
"So..What made you change?" he asked, full force in his voice.  
  
Faye shrugged at him, and Spike rolled his eyes. "Oh, come one, Faye. Something had to have made you want to stop being such a whore." Spike bit his lip as soon as the comment slipped.  
  
The former 'whore' shook her head, and stood up, making her way for the exit of the room.  
  
"Goodnight, Spike." She said lightly, lacking any sort of hurt. But, he knew it was there.  
  
"Faye..wait." The lanky man stood up and went after her. She stopped turned around, and smiled at him, which was anything but what he expected.  
  
"Do you really want to know?" she asked, her voice nearly writhing in an untouchable emotion.  
  
"I asked." He replied simply.  
  
"You." She said to him, with the same simple tone.  
  
Spike watched her, and it was as if he had never seen her before. This woman was not his Faye, his Faye? He scoffed at himself. That wasn't the point, however. This woman..she was seemingly pure. Not completely un- exposed to the universes horrors, but UN-affected.  
  
"..Well, and I started taking an anti-depressant. That would probably be the bigger part of it." Spike blinked.  
  
"You were depressed."  
  
Faye gave a simple nod.  
  
"Why?" He asked, almost appalled at the very thought. But more so, was the horrific curiosity as to why he felt so curious and cared so much?  
  
The purple haired woman shrugged, and leaned herself against the room's inner-wall. "Why does anyone get sad? Chemical imbalance, traumatic experience, traumatic news, just there simple personality type, why I am Melancholic and Sanguine I've discovered."  
  
Now it was Spike's turn to just look at her.  
  
"Oh well." Faye said with a blink of her eye, but it wasn't just an 'oh well' for Spike..no, this was something more drastic. This reminded him of Julia, and where he had failed to protect her, he COULD try to protect Faye. No. He WOULD protect Faye.  
  
He watched as she watched him, and he counted the fluttering of her lush eyelashes, and thought of all the things that had happened in those months he had vanished. Jet had given him a rundown. The crew had separated, and everyone thought he (Being Spike) was dead, and he and Faye were all that remained. Jet had said it wouldn't have been so terrible, but Faye missed Ed just as much as himself, and, in a night of anger she tried over-dosing on aspirin. Thus the anti-depressant.  
  
Spike then, took a few steps forward, and grabbed Faye by her shoulders.  
  
"I'm sorry." He whispered in sincerity.  
  
Faye looked at him with wide eyes, confused, "For what?"  
  
"For everything that's ever happened to you. It's not fair." And then, he brought her to him in a gentle hug, and for moments the stood, Faye hesitantly grasping him back in a light embrace. Moments became minutes, and minute's hours, and though the dark in space never changed, he new the morning's light was growing near.  
  
Spike looked down to her, and much to his surprise, he saw Faye to be asleep, breathing with gentle rasps. He smiled upon her, and lifted her, bringing her to her room. He laid her upon her bed, and gently put the covers over her strewn form.  
  
"I'm going to protect you." He whispered, as he exited the room. Yes, the dream was over, now it was time for what reality had to offer. And what a great reality it would be. Spike began to walk towards the kitchen, today, he would make the coffee.  
  
--*--  
  
A/N: WOO! Yes.just a little short story, which could lead to a whole other one, if people want. I could make a chapter story out of it. I hope you all liked it. Oh..AND I DON'T OWN COMBY BEBOP. 


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